True Friends
by hsm753
Summary: Hunter and Shawn have had some ups and downs, leaving Hunter to recall all of them. Friendship.


***No Copyright Intended. I don't own Wrestling or its characters.**

Ever since I first met him, I knew he was a force to be reckoned with. He sure had a big attitude and a huge ego for being the best and the only one to take home the glory every night. He sure did give me a lot of headaches in our time. He looked at me those first few moments and I knew we we're bound to be great friends. I saw the look in his eyes when I asked him that one day, that we could be friends forever.

Time passed, and things changed. What started out as a group of misfits taking the subject of 'power' and putting it in our own hands, ended up becoming a living nightmare when me and Shawn were being fined almost thousands of dollars almost every night from all the antics we found funny. Vince, poor him, was at his wits end with us. Since Kevin and Scott went to the company's rival show, it was now up to me and Shawn to pick up the slack and move on with it. It was only after we did this public message thing that the lightbulb clicked in everyone's head. It was now very certain we were the good guys. I liked the idea of that. Getting distrust from fans around the world was the last thing that ever crossed my mind, but once you start enjoying what you do in this line of work, it's all drained out of you and you start to believe in everything the fans have to say.

That's what happened to Shawn. He started taking things harshly. It wasn't long until I caught him in the hotel one night sticking a needle deep in his arm. I was almost sick of seeing this routine happen every single time we'd come back from a match. The first thing Shawn would think about was those pills.

As if things couldn't get worse, and if I didn't want to ring his neck dry, he started getting more and more high. In promos, he'd be so high it would only go for one round and that was that. Vince started noticing his behavior, and I had to cover for him all the time. I had to take falls for him, just like I did with the "Curtain Call" incident. No one else but me.

That made me angry.

I wanted to stop this whole "DX" thing, but I didn't think, with the ratings shooting through the roof, it would be a good idea. At least we were getting more and more approval than other groups around the business.

Then, as if my anger had been shouted to the world, Shawn began to break apart. It started with the Mike Tyson storyline, where Shawn had suddenly felt his body ache and hurt. One morning, he called me via the hotel phone, saying he couldn't move in his bed. He couldn't move or it would hurt. It took all I could do to help him that day, and once he was healed, the horrible truth came: Shawn's back was weak and broken. He couldn't continue wrestling with all that pain inside him. He cried on my shoulder countless times once he got the news, and all I could do was hold him and tell him not to worry. He never listened to me because once he got through crying he'd head straight towards the pills and swallow them.

At Wrestlemania XIV, Shawn knew it would be his last. He went out there and gave it all he got, and it worked out for him. He was hurting during the match, yes, but he sure did put on a good show. After the match, I got him out of the ring and hugged him backstage, where he proceeded to leave the building for back surgery.

There, I had to pick up the slack all by myself. I pulled the wagon and made a new team of degenerates to keep the DX legacy going. I felt like I couldn't do it at first, but soon, I forgot all about my fears and led a team of people who knew what it was like to be number one. I kept the team stable and strong and then, one day, Shawn came back and everything took a turn for the worse.

At first, I was happy to see my old friend become commissioner of the show. For two years, he took charge and made matches of his own, giving power back to the Kliq and DX in general. But, at the same time, he was still struggling with addictions to drugs. He had gotten worse since I had last saw him, and he did have a hard time trying to quit. He made more appearances here and there, but he didn't let his addictions fall too short behind.

As time passed, DX was no more, and I was back to square one as a single's competitor. He had refereed my match against The Rock, then gave up the commissioner title to Mick Foley. He never showed up again, and I guess I'm to blame for that.

On a day like any other, he stumbled into the backstage area with his mind in the wrong place. He had been high on some pills, and everyone in the arena was starting to notice his strange behavior. Once word had gotten to Vince, he hunted Shawn down and told him to go home. That was the first time I hadn't covered for him, and he was so mad at me for that. He found me just as I was walking around and we got into a huge argument, him screaming at the top of his lungs, making me look like a guy who could just take all of those things he said to me. He stormed out of the building, and I never saw or talked to that guy again.

For a year, I had to wake up every morning and remember that argument we had. I had almost left it in the dust, throwing it out of my mind like trash, but I just couldn't do it. Shawn was my friend, and I let that friendship fall straight to the ground. Over time, I had to come to terms that it wasn't all me that had ended our long friendship. It was Shawn. Both of us made the commitment to be friends and the both of us failed to keep it.

The end of that one year, a phone call changed everything. Once I picked up the phone, his voice was clear and crisp on the other line. I was shocked beyond belief. I couldn't find the right words to say except 'How have you been?' and 'Why are you calling?'

Once I had gotten those questions out of my mouth, he started telling me he was sorry for what happened a year prior. He started to tell me about his wife and son, and how he had finally managed to take control of his demons and stop the drugs for good. He told me how me had found religion and how God turned his life around and that he was ready to come back and give wrestling another try.

I hesitated to tell him no, but I wasn't quite sure how to take things now that he had admitted his mistakes and realized he had done wrong the whole time. I smiled and told him that we could start over, something he definitely appreciated.

Once 2002 came around, he was back in the ring and wrestling like his back wasn't hurt at all. He gave it all he had that Summerslam we went at it and tore the house down once he was able to win the championship in the first ever Elimination Chamber match. He was great in the ring, his abilities unlike that of any human being. It was like he wasn't human.

Once his career was back up and running, he and I had no choice but to form DX again. It was something we talked about, and we did it. Over time, I looked at him in that ring, and it was like he never left.

Now, many years later, he's retired. But that doesn't stop the friendship that we both share. No matter where we are or what we do, we are still friends. Brothers, more like it, but friends. It's a true blessing what friendship can do.


End file.
